French President Nicolas Sarkozy was expected to sign an arms deal during his upcoming visit to Brazil that could help this country build Latin America’s first nuclear-propelled submarine, the government’s official news agency said on Saturday.
The French president was scheduled to arrive in Rio de Janeiro today for a Brazil-EU summit.
Agencia Brasil said Sarkozy and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would sign an agreement after the summit that includes the transfer of French technology for Brazil to build four conventional submarines, as well as the hull for “Brazil’s first nuclear submarine.”
France promised earlier this year to help Brazil build the Scorpene attack submarine, a conventional diesel-powered vessel that Brazilian officials hope will help them develop Latin America’s first nuclear-propelled submarine. They said it would protect Brazil’s large offshore oil reserves and exploration platforms.
Brazil in 1979 began a formal program to develop a nuclear submarine and Lula last year announced US$540 million in new funding for the program and for uranium enrichment efforts.
The nation has five conventionally powered submarines.
Agencia Brasil said that another likely agreement calls for the construction of 50 EC 725 Cougar helicopters by Brazil’s Helibras, which is controlled by Eurocopter, a branch of the French-German defense group EADS.
The Brazilian Foreign Ministry said the two presidents would also sign agreements on sustainable development and protection of the Amazon rain forest and in education, science and nuclear energy.
The international financial crisis was expected to dominate the talks at the summit in Rio de Janeiro’s famed Copacabana Palace Hotel.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso told the private Agencia Estado news agency that the leaders also should discuss ways to revive the Doha Round of world trade talks.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the